Shooting Star: Cyron Melville

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The son of a Danish mother and Scottish actor-comedian Johnny Melville, the ginger-haired actor Cyron Melville has been a star in Denmark since he played the lead in Casten Rudolf's "The Beast Within" at the tender age of 10. His starring performance in the Emmy-nominated local series "The Killing" cemented his fame. In addition to acting, Melville also is a pop star in Denmark, with several hit singles to his name.

The Hollywood Reporter: What was it like being chosen as a Shooting Star?

Cyron Melville: It was a real honor to be picked. I was prepared for a real intense time, with meetings and events all day long. But it hasn't been that stressful. It's been much more relaxed and I've had a chance to really get to know the other Shooting Stars, who are all amazing actors.

THR: What has been your most challenging role to date?

Melville: My current role in (Morten Giese's) "Daniel." It's a much darker, more psychological role than I've ever played before. I usually get the "first love" or "guy next door" roles but this goes much deeper. It's about a guy who has to deal with the lies of the adult world. He falls in love with a girl. They move in together and it's all happy. But then all the anger coming from his childhood and his parents rises up and it's like he's about to explode. He gets very jealous and violent. He gets quite sick, really. I'd say, from the psychological aspect, it's a bit like "Taxi Driver."

THR: You were a child star in Denmark. Has it been difficult breaking away from the nice boy image?

Melville: A bit. In Denmark, I'm known for being a youth actor, but I always wanted to do serious work -- to play people with serious problems. I'd prefer telling honest stories to just taking the money and play the same roles over and over.

THR: Who are your role models as an actor?

Melville: A lot of Americans -- Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro and Leonardo DiCaprio, who I think is a really excellent actor. But I've been seeing some of the work of the other shooting stars -- they sent us CDs of some of their movies -- and they are really cool. Now I want to see every single film they've all done. I'd like to work with some of them. The best would be if we could make a movie with all 10 of us in it. Why not?

THR: So you would you like to work outside Denmark?

Melville: Absolutely. I'd love to do an American movie. The really good American films are, I think, the greatest. But I'm also interested in working in other countries in Europe. So far, I haven't worked outside of Denmark. I like Danish cinema and I think it is still excellent, even now that the Dogme period is gone. But there are tons of great European films. And it has become a lot easier to put these kind of films together with several European countries.